Make yourself a home

Wellness

Alas, I have spent five consecutive weeks caring about what I look like. Pulling myself from the brink of apathy time and time again was a good exercise for me. While I would like to think I’m well on my way to 2017 magic, part of me feels like now that I’m done with this, I can just eat candy and bread every morning and balloon, but I’m not going to do that, of course…

My final week of this challenge was shot from the start. It was the week after hosting a Super Bowl party, which means my weekly grocery shopping was consumed on Sunday, so the rest of the week we ate chili, hot wings, Southwest eggrolls, and Doritos. I mean, that’s literally all I ate for four days. I came off an excellent week of low carb intake to consume primarily carbs and minimal vegetables. My stomach felt busted. My life was busted, partly because I couldn’t remember where I put any of the things I moved when I cleaned up for the party, including two sticks of butter, which I still haven’t found.

During this five weeks, I had two very good weeks of dieting; I’m not sure what to think about that. It’s like a guaranteed two steps forward and one step back. The other step is the fact that I was consistent with exercise pretty much the whole time. Despite my inconsistency and the fact I only really lost three pounds, I feel like my body has changed completely. I’m more shapely and more firm and I see myself as athletic again. I will always be athletic, but being in the gym and taking care of my body is what makes it apart of my self-image.

I learned that time is the most important factor in change regarding fitness. I had to commit to five weeks. I could have quit about four separate time if not for this commitment and if I had, where would my six pack be??? That shows me that diligence is the most important part of the journey. I will fail, I will be weak, I will stop caring about looking fat, but if I just accept those experiences in the moments I have them without making any life choices based on them, I’ll find my way back to the course of where I want to go.

PS. I’m returning the $70 workout pants I bought. Haven’t been able to bring myself to wear them.

Starting Weight: 165.8 Ending Weight: 162

The third week of my journey was relatively unremarkable, however, I did start to see definition in my abdomen that motivated me to keep going. I was so motivated that I went to Victoria’s Secret and spent $75 on a pair of workout pants. In my defense, it came with a sports bra! The pants are still sitting on my dresser with the tags on in case I come to my senses, but I have already spent a day in the sports bra and no shirt fantasizing about how skinny I’m about to look.

I still didn’t drink enough water this week, but I drank more nonetheless! I was no longer so dehydrated it felt like I had bronchitis. I also did better about eating breakfast and lunch. It helps to actually have the food around to eat. When I don’t have the groceries, I tend to eat whatever is around which is leftover white chocolate and red hot fudge, cupcakes, and cookies. I definitely can still improve by having those meals prepared since I’ve been using my spare time during the day doing chores.

As far as the gym goes, I still had trouble getting cardio in at the same time as lifting on a couple days, but I got it in later. One day I was going to do cardio when I got off at 2:30 (I’m working a split shift). I lazed around for 30 minutes, then went to get in the car and couldn’t find my id for the gym. I lowkey panicked because I had never lost my id before. I made several trips between my house and my car searching. I finally went to the gym to see if they had it from my checking out a locker key that morning. They did, but I was so put out by the drama that I took my id and went home.

Besides modest measurable success, I am feeling very positively. A few people have complimented me on looking buff, and my friend that works at the front desk very generously told me I didn’t need to lose anymore weight. My legs are in a place that you may or may not be familiar with where they are getting more and more toned, but since I haven’t lost a lot fat yet, I’m busting out of my spandex shorts, in a good way. I can finally feel my hip bone again.

I am at a point where I am no longer wondering if I will make my goal. I want people to know that the journey to weightloss or fitness doesn’t always have high ambition or fervor, but it does have to have time. Failing one week still usually puts you further ahead than before your ever tried. I failed in week 2 and could have thought now wasn’t a good time to try to slim down, but just one week later, I am shopping for crop tops.

Week 4 Goals

Cut out processed carbs Monday through Saturday. The Super Bowl is Sunday…

Prep breakfast and lunch for the week.

Use pitcher as goal for water consumption.

Starting Weight: 164.6 End Weight: 160.8

I have come to the conclusion that life is basically a cycle of gaining and losing weight, among other things. For 2017, I hope I can avoid the count up and just continue my slow, tedious process of making it back to my prenuptials weight. I gained 20 (plus) solid pounds from my wedding day to about 8 months after. Two years and two months after my wedding, I am 10ish pounds down. I feel good because I don’t despise going to the gym like I have been known to and I am currently not in a spell where I am compelled to eat sweets at three meals a day. In the spirit of self-improvement and new resolve, I have decided to detail my efforts for you over the next five weeks. Five weeks because that is the amount of time that popped in my head and sounded like a reasonable amount of time to see real results. I am also motivated by the fact I am meant to conceive this year, which means this could be my last opportunity to have a six pack…

Week 1

Goals:

Get up when my alarm goes off at 5 am and head to the gym.

Have clothes and shoes set aside the night before.

No sweets during the week.

Cardio sessions of at least 45 minutes.

Last weekend I decided I lacked self-discipline, which is the cause of all my failures, except as a collegiate athlete because I did have discipline then and failed, which ruined my self-discipline. One of my issues affecting my fitness is taking 20 whole minutes to get up once my alarm goes off in the morning. This is not because I’m sleeping, it’s because I’m tired and don’t want to get up. Then I get up and struggle to get my clothes, shoes, towel, and headphones together. Next thing I know, I’m arriving at the gym at 5:50 am and soldiers start to come in for PT shortly thereafter. I need to leave by 7:15, giving me less than an hour and a half to work out, which usually means cardio or abs is cut short.

One thing about the gym I am attending on post is that there are several aged adults in there before me and after me. This helps me know that I am lazy. And what is even worse is when one of the men over 50 invites me to do abs with them and has to yell at me not to put my feet down on an exercise. I can do better, but my body is naturally at a state where a little effort goes a long way, so it is hard to get over the hump.

I decided to do cardio for 45 minutes instead of my usual ten at the beginning and ten or fifteen at the end because some guy on a treadmill told me fat loss happens after 30 minutes. Having a degree in basically Exercise Science I shouldn’t need to take advice from people who walk on treadmills for exercise, but he was right. For fat loss, the recommendation is one hour of cardio five times a week.

I felt great this week. Not only did I get to the gym by 5:30 each day feeling less stressed, I kept the house exceptionally clean.

By not allowing laziness to pervade one area of my life, I elevated my performance in the others. This concept is why it is important to me to be fit and at a satisfactory weight: my upkeep of my body is a sign of my discipline and work ethic. I really value discipline, which is a big reason I was attracted to my husband. And the sign isn’t for others but rather for me. I know I have been exercising self-control- which is a fruit of the spirit- when I can get my pants up without having to jump, and then I feel I can do anything.

I was able to decline sweets all week! I actually only had to decline once and I actually did eat one bite of the cookie… but what I’m saying is I didn’t have a taste for it. The real test comes when I want it but deny myself.

At the end of this week I feel like it is taking less effort to get to the gym and do what I am supposed to do. I am pleased with the changes I made to my morning habits and feel like I can accomplish so much.

Starting weight: 164.6 lbs Ending weight: 166.6

I didn’t lose anything this week, but my abs look less pudgy so I’m cool with it. My goals for next week will be to:

Drink 80 oz water per day.

Eat breakfast and lunch.

I am terrible at drinking water as I am not thirsty, and since my life is so sedentary with the job I have, I don’t usually eat much during the day, but I want to see what happens when I do at least a protein shake for each meal.